Identity-based content access control

ABSTRACT

In embodiments, apparatuses, methods and storage media are described that are associated with performing identity-based access control for content. A content consumption device may be configured to control access to presented content based on identities of one or more content consumers that are physically proximate to the device. The content consumption device may be configured to perform facial and/or voice recognition on one or more content consumers to determine an identity for the one or more content consumers. The content consumption device may be configured to determine access permissions for the identified content consumers. At various times, access to a piece of content may change based on who is physically proximate to the content consumption device. Other embodiments may be described and claimed.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

The present application is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No.14/037,151 filed Sep. 23, 2013, entitled, “IDENTITY-BASED CONTENT ACCESSCONTROL”, now U.S. Pat. No. 9,594,890. The application is herebyincorporated by reference herein in its entirety for all purposes.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present disclosure relates to the field of data processing, inparticular, to apparatuses, methods and systems associated withpresentation of content.

BACKGROUND

The background description provided herein is for the purpose ofgenerally presenting the context of the disclosure. Unless otherwiseindicated herein, the materials described in this section are not priorart to the claims in this application and are not admitted to be priorart by inclusion in this section.

Modern electronic device provide facilities for presenting a widevariety of content, including video and/or audio content. However, notall content is equally appropriate for all content consumers. Forexample, content may include violent, sexual, drug-related, or politicalthemes that may be deemed inappropriate for certain content consumers.For example, some content may be deemed inappropriate for consumers ofparticular ages.

However, it is often difficult to effectively control access to content.Children may attempt to consume inappropriate content when parents arenot present, for example. In another example, when appropriate contentconsumers are consuming content, such as when adults are watching anR-rated movie, children may inadvertently enter the room where thecontent is being consumed. In some cases, even if the content is pausedor stopped quickly, inappropriate content may be viewed or heard by achild.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Embodiments will be readily understood by the following detaileddescription in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. To facilitatethis description, like reference numerals designate like structuralelements. Embodiments are illustrated by way of example, and not by wayof limitation, in the Figures of the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating an example arrangement forcontent distribution and consumption, in accordance with variousembodiments.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating an example arrangement forcontrolling access to content based on content-consumer identity, inaccordance with various embodiments.

FIG. 3 illustrates an example process for presenting content, inaccordance with various embodiments.

FIG. 4 illustrates an example process for training a content consumptiondevice to perform identity-based access control, in accordance withvarious embodiments.

FIG. 5 illustrates an example process for presenting content based oncontent consumer identities, in accordance with various embodiments.

FIG. 6 illustrates an example process for identifying content consumers,in accordance with various embodiments.

FIG. 7 illustrates an example process for determining if content may bepresented, in accordance with various embodiments.

FIG. 8 illustrates an example computing environment suitable forpracticing various aspects of the present disclosure, in accordance withvarious embodiments.

FIG. 9 illustrates an example storage medium with instructionsconfigured to enable an apparatus to practice various aspects of thepresent disclosure, in accordance with various embodiments.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Embodiments described herein are directed to, for example, methods,computer-readable media, and apparatuses associated with performingidentity-based access control for content. In various embodiments,content, such as video and/or audio content, may be available forpresentation by a content consumption device. In various embodiments,the content consumption device may be configured to control access tothe content based on identities of one or more content consumers thatare physically proximate to the device. For example, the contentconsumption device may be configured to perform facial and/or voicerecognition on one or more content consumers to determine an identityfor the one or more content consumers. In various embodiments, thecontent consumption device may be configured to determine, for one ormore identified content consumers, one or more access permissions. Invarious embodiments, access to a piece of content may be controlledbased on these access permissions. In various embodiments, access may becontrolled based on a comparison of the access permissions to metadatadescribing the piece of content.

In various embodiments, such determination of identity may occur on arepeated fashion, such as when there is a change persons physicallyproximate to the content consumption device. Thus, at various times,access to a piece of content may change based on who is physicallyproximate to the content consumption device. By performing such repeatedidentification, the content consumption device may be configured tofacilitate a more active and robust content access control than in othersystems/techniques. For example, if adults are watching a movieunsuitable for children in a room and a child walks in the room thecontent consumption device may identify the child, determine that thechild is not permitted to watch the movie, and pause or stop the moviewhile the child is present. In various embodiments, the contentconsumption device may allow an adult (or other authorized party) tooverride the access control, such as with a pass phrase. Otherembodiments may be described and claimed.

In the following detailed description, reference is made to theaccompanying drawings which form a part hereof wherein like numeralsdesignate like parts throughout, and in which is shown by way ofillustration embodiments that may be practiced. It is to be understoodthat other embodiments may be utilized and structural or logical changesmay be made without departing from the scope of the present disclosure.Therefore, the following detailed description is not to be taken in alimiting sense, and the scope of embodiments is defined by the appendedclaims and their equivalents.

Various operations may be described as multiple discrete actions oroperations in turn, in a manner that is most helpful in understandingthe claimed subject matter. However, the order of description should notbe construed as to imply that these operations are necessarily orderdependent. In particular, these operations may not be performed in theorder of presentation. Operations described may be performed in adifferent order than the described embodiment. Various additionaloperations may be performed and/or described operations may be omittedin additional embodiments.

For the purposes of the present disclosure, the phrase “A and/or B”means (A), (B), or (A and B). For the purposes of the presentdisclosure, the phrase “A, B, and/or C” means (A), (B), (C), (A and B),(A and C), (B and C), or (A, B and C).

The description may use the phrases “in an embodiment,” or “inembodiments,” which may each refer to one or more of the same ordifferent embodiments. Furthermore, the terms “comprising,” “including,”“having,” and the like, as used with respect to embodiments of thepresent disclosure, are synonymous.

As used herein, the term “logic” and “module” may refer to, be part of,or include an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), anelectronic circuit, a processor (shared, dedicated, or group) and/ormemory (shared, dedicated, or group) that execute one or more softwareor firmware programs, a combinational logic circuit, and/or othersuitable components that provide the described functionality.

Referring now to FIG. 1, an arrangement 100 for content distribution andconsumption, in accordance with various embodiments, is illustrated. Asshown, in embodiments, arrangement 100 for distribution and consumptionof content may include a number of content consumption devices 108coupled with one or more content aggregator/distributor servers 104 viaone or more networks 106. Content aggregator/distributor servers 104 maybe configured to aggregate and distribute content to content consumptiondevices 108 for consumption, e.g., via one or more networks 106. Invarious embodiments, camera adjustment techniques described herein maybe implemented in association with arrangement 100. In otherembodiments, different arrangements, devices, and/or systems maybe used.

In embodiments, as shown, content aggregator/distributor servers 104 mayinclude encoder 112, storage 114 and content provisioning 116, which maybe coupled to each other as shown. Encoder 112 may be configured toencode content 102 from various content creators and/or providers 101,and storage 114 may be configured to store encoded content. Contentprovisioning 116 may be configured to selectively retrieve and provideencoded content to the various content consumption devices 108 inresponse to requests from the various content consumption devices 108.Content 102 may be media content of various types, having video, audio,and/or closed captions, from a variety of content creators and/orproviders. Examples of content may include, but are not limited to,movies, TV programming, user created content (such as YouTube video,iReporter video), music albums/titles/pieces, and so forth. Examples ofcontent creators and/or providers may include, but are not limited to,movie studios/distributors, television programmers, televisionbroadcasters, satellite programming broadcasters, cable operators,online users, and so forth.

In various embodiments, for efficiency of operation, encoder 112 may beconfigured to encode the various content 102, typically in differentencoding formats, into a subset of one or more common encoding formats.However, encoder 112 may be configured to nonetheless maintain indicesor cross-references to the corresponding content in their originalencoding formats. Similarly, for flexibility of operation, encoder 112may encode or otherwise process each or selected ones of content 102into multiple versions of different quality levels. The differentversions may provide different resolutions, different bitrates, and/ordifferent frame rates for transmission and/or playing. In variousembodiments, the encoder 112 may publish, or otherwise make available,information on the available different resolutions, different bitrates,and/or different frame rates. For example, the encoder 112 may publishbitrates at which it may provide video or audio content to the contentconsumption device(s) 108. Encoding of audio data may be performed inaccordance with, e.g., but are not limited to, the MP3 standard,promulgated by the Moving Picture Experts Group (MPEG). Encoding ofvideo data may be performed in accordance with, e.g., but are notlimited to, the H264 standard, promulgated by the InternationalTelecommunication Unit (ITU) Video Coding Experts Group (VCEG). Encoder112 may include one or more computing devices configured to performcontent portioning, encoding, and/or transcoding, such as describedherein.

Storage 114 may be temporal and/or persistent storage of any type,including, but are not limited to, volatile and non-volatile memory,optical, magnetic and/or solid state mass storage, and so forth.Volatile memory may include, but are not limited to, static and/ordynamic random access memory. Non-volatile memory may include, but arenot limited to, electrically erasable programmable read-only memory,phase change memory, resistive memory, and so forth.

In various embodiments, content provisioning 116 may be configured toprovide encoded content as discrete files and/or as continuous streamsof encoded content. Content provisioning 116 may be configured totransmit the encoded audio/video data (and closed captions, if provided)in accordance with any one of a number of streaming and/or transmissionprotocols. The streaming protocols may include, but are not limited to,the Real-Time Streaming Protocol (RTSP). Transmission protocols mayinclude, but are not limited to, the transmission control protocol(TCP), user datagram protocol (UDP), and so forth. In variousembodiments, content provisioning 116 may be configured to provide mediafiles that are packaged according to one or more output packagingformats.

Networks 106 may be any combinations of private and/or public, wiredand/or wireless, local and/or wide area networks. Private networks mayinclude, e.g., but are not limited to, enterprise networks. Publicnetworks, may include, e.g., but is not limited to the Internet. Wirednetworks, may include, e.g., but are not limited to, Ethernet networks.Wireless networks, may include, e.g., but are not limited to, Wi-Fi, or3G/4G networks. It would be appreciated that at the content distributionend, networks 106 may include one or more local area networks withgateways and firewalls, through which content aggregator/distributorserver 104 communicate with content consumption devices 108. Similarly,at the content consumption end, networks 106 may include base stationsand/or access points, through which consumption devices 108 communicatewith content aggregator/distributor server 104. In between the two endsmay be any number of network routers, switches and other networkingequipment of the like. However, for ease of understanding, thesegateways, firewalls, routers, switches, base stations, access points andthe like are not shown.

In various embodiments, as shown, a content consumption device 108 mayinclude player 122, display 124 and user input device(s) 126. Player 122may be configured to receive streamed content, decode and recover thecontent from the content stream, and present the recovered content ondisplay 124, in response to user selections/inputs from user inputdevice(s) 126.

In various embodiments, player 122 may include decoder 132, presentationengine 134 and user interface engine 136. Decoder 132 may be configuredto receive streamed content, decode and recover the content from thecontent stream. Presentation engine 134 may be configured to present therecovered content on display 124, in response to user selections/inputs.In various embodiments, decoder 132 and/or presentation engine 134 maybe configured to present audio and/or video content to a user that hasbeen encoded using varying encoding control variable settings in asubstantially seamless manner. Thus, in various embodiments, the decoder132 and/or presentation engine 134 may be configured to present twoportions of content that vary in resolution, frame rate, and/orcompression settings without interrupting presentation of the content.User interface engine 136 may be configured to receive signals from userinput device 126 that are indicative of the user selections/inputs froma user, and to selectively render a contextual information interface asdescribed herein. The user interface engine 136 may additionally performinteractions relating to identity-based access control for content, asdescribed herein.

While shown as part of a content consumption device 108, display 124and/or user input device(s) 126 may be stand-alone devices orintegrated, for different embodiments of content consumption devices108. For example, for a television arrangement, display 124 may be astand alone television set, Liquid Crystal Display (LCD), Plasma and thelike, while player 122 may be part of a separate set-top set, and userinput device 126 may be a separate remote control (such as describedbelow), gaming controller, keyboard, or another similar device.Similarly, for a desktop computer arrangement, player 122, display 124and user input device(s) 126 may all be separate stand alone units. Onthe other hand, for a tablet arrangement, display 124 may be a touchsensitive display screen that includes user input device(s) 126, andplayer 122 may be a computing platform with a soft keyboard that alsoincludes one of the user input device(s) 126. Further, display 124 andplayer 122 may be integrated within a single form factor. Similarly, fora smartphone arrangement, player 122, display 124 and user inputdevice(s) 126 may be likewise integrated.

Referring now to FIG. 2, an example arrangement 200 for controllingaccess to content based on content-consumer identity is illustrated inaccordance with various embodiments. In various embodiments, thearrangement 200 may include the player 122 of the content consumptiondevice 108. In various embodiments, the player 122 may be configured toinclude one or more modules to perform various activities related tocontrol of access to content based on content-consumer identity asdescribed herein. However, in various embodiments, one or moreoperations described herein may be performed by entities other than theplayer 122, and may be performed outside of the content consumptiondevice 108. Further, in various embodiments, the entities illustrated inarrangement 200 may be combined, split into additional entities, and/oromitted entirely.

In various embodiments, the player 122 may interact with one more ormore input devices 116, as described above. In particular, the player122 may interact with a camera 215 for purposes of identifying contentconsumers (such as, for example, content consumers 280 and 285) that arephysically proximate to the content consumption device 108. In variousembodiments, the camera 215 may be configured to capture and provideinput video data and/or still images, which may be used for facialrecognition of one or more content consumers. In various embodiments,the camera 215 may be physically incorporated into the contentconsumption device 108; in other embodiments, the camera 215 may bephysically separate from the content consumption device 108, but may beoperatively coupled to the content consumption device 108 (as well as tothe player 122), such as, for example through use of a wired or wirelessnetwork, or other data transfer technology. In various embodiments, thecamera 215 may comprise various form factors, including web cams, phonecameras, single-lens reflex (“SLR”) cameras, video cameras, etc. Invarious embodiments, the content consumption device 108 may beconfigured with a motion detector (not illustrated) to aid in capture ofimages and/or video of content consumers 280, 285, etc. In variousembodiments, the camera 215 may be configured to modify capture ofimages and/or video, such as by moving, panning, tilting, zooming, etc.,in order to capture higher-quality video and/or images of contentconsumers. In various embodiments, such modification of capture may befacilitated by information provided by the motion detector.

In various embodiments, the camera 215 may provide the input video dataand/or still images to a facial recognition module 210 (“FR 210”), whichmay be configured to perform facial recognition on one or more featuresof faces of content consumers whose images are captured by the camera215. In various embodiments the facial recognition module 210 may beconfigured to store and retrieve biometric data related to facialfeatures in a biometric storage 230. In various embodiments, thebiometric storage 230 may be configured to be part of the player 122 ormay be separately situated from the player 122. In various embodiments,the FR 210 may be configure to utilize understood facial recognitiontechniques to recognize faces in image and/or video data captured by thecamera 215.

In various embodiments, the player 122 may, in addition or in lieu ofinteraction with the camera 215, interact with a microphone 225 forpurposes of identifying content consumers (such as, for example, contentconsumers 280 and 285) that are physically proximate to the contentconsumption device 108. In various embodiments, the microphone 225 maybe configured to capture and provide audio data, and in particularspeech data, which may be used for voice recognition of one or morecontent consumers. In various embodiments, the microphone 225 may bephysically incorporated into the content consumption device 108; inother embodiments, the microphone 225 may be physically separate fromthe content consumption device 108, but may be operatively coupled tothe content consumption device 108 (as well as to the player 122), suchas, for example through use of a wired or wireless network, or otherdata transfer technology. In various embodiments, the microphone 225 mayprovide the input audio data to a voice recognition module 220 (“VR220”), which may be configured to perform voice recognition on thecaptured audio data. In various embodiments the vVR 220 may beconfigured to store and retrieve biometric data related to voicefeatures in the biometric storage 230.

In various embodiments, the presentation engine may include an accesscontrol module 250 (“AC 250”). In various embodiments, the AC 250 may beconfigured to receive information from the FR 210 and/or the VR 220 toidentity one or more content consumers, such as content consumers 280and 285. In various embodiments, the AC 250 may be configured to storeand retrieve information about one or more content consumers from acontent consumer storage 270 (“CCS 270”). In various embodiments, thecontent consumer information stored at the CCS 270 may include identityinformation for one or more content consumers, such as, for example,name, age, sex, etc. In various embodiments, the content consumerinformation stored at the CCS 270 may include content access permissioninformation for one or more content consumers. In various embodiments,this content access permission may include indicators of one or moretypes of content which may be accessed by a content consumer. In variousembodiments, this content access permission may include indicators ofone or more types of content which may not be accessed by a contentconsumer.

In various embodiments, the AC 250 may be configured to identify one ormore content consumers. In various embodiments, the AC 250 may beconfigured to perform such identification though assignment of a uniqueidentity to a content consumer. In such embodiments, the AC 250 may beable to determine a particular set of access permissions that isuniquely associated with the identified content consumer.

In other embodiments, the AC 250 may be configured to identify a contentconsumer as belonging to a class or group. For example, the AC 250 mayidentity a content consumer as belonging to a particular age range. Insuch an example, the AC 250 may identity the content consumer 280, whichis an adult, as having an age over 18, while the AC 250 may identify thechild content consumer 285 as being under age 18 (or under age 16, age13, etc.). In various embodiments, the AC 250 may be configured toperform such identification without necessarily having to uniquelyidentify the content consumer. For example, the AC 250 may identify thechild content consumer 285 as having a voice that falls in a registerthat is likely to be a child. In another example, the he AC 250 mayidentify the child content consumer 285 as being of a height thatsuggests that the child content consumer 285 is a child.

In various embodiments, the AC 250 may be configured to determine ifidentified content consumers may be permitted to access content. Forexample the AC 250 may be configured to compare access permissions thatare stored in the CCS 270 to metadata describing a piece of content (notillustrated). For example, the AC 250 may be configured to compare

As described above, the player 122 may also include the user interfaceengine 136 (“UI 136”). In various embodiments, the UI 136 may beconfigured to interact with one or more content consumers, such ascontent consumer 280. In various embodiments, the UI 136 may beconfigured to receive one or more access permissions from a contentconsumer, such as content consumer 280; these access permissions may befor the content consumer 280 themselves, and/or for another contentconsumer, such as child content consumer 285. In various embodiments,the UI 136 may be configured to request a password or pass phrase bespoken by the content consumer 280 in order to authenticate the identityof the content consumer 280, such as when receiving access permissions.In various embodiments, the password or pass phrase may be provided,such as by being provided on the display 124, at the time the contentconsumer 180 attempts to modify or provide access permissions. The AC250 may then be used to identify the speaker to provide additionalsecurity for receipt of access permissions. In various embodiments, theUI 136 may also be configured to request and receive overrides from thecontent consumer 280, such as when access to a piece of content isdenied (for example due to the presence of a child content consumer 285)and the content consumer 280 wishes to access the piece of contentanyway. Particular examples of user interaction with the player 122 aredescribed below.

Referring now to FIG. 3, an example process 300 for controlling accessto content is illustrated in accordance with various embodiments. WhileFIG. 3 illustrates particular example operations for process 300, invarious embodiments, process 300 may include additional operations, omitillustrated operations, and/or combine illustrated operations. Invarious embodiments, process 300 may be performed by one or moreentities of the player 122 illustrated in FIG. 2.

The process may begin at operation 310, where the player 122 may betrained, such as by the adult content consumer 280, to recognize andcontrol access to content to content consumers. Particularimplementations of operation 310 may be described below with referenceto process 400 of FIG. 4. At operation 320, the player 122 may presentcontent based on one or more identities of content consumers. Particularimplementations of operation 320 may be described below with referenceto process 500 of FIG. 5. The process may then repeat for additionaltraining at operation 310 and presentation at operation 320, or theprocess may end.

Referring now to FIG. 4, an example process 400 for training a player122 to perform identity-based access control is illustrated inaccordance with various embodiments. While FIG. 4 illustrates particularexample operations for process 400, in various embodiments, process 400may include additional operations, omit illustrated operations, and/orcombine illustrated operations. Process 400 may include implementationsof operation 310 of process 300 of FIG. 3. In various embodiments,aspects of process 400 may be performed by the UI 136 and/or the AC 250of the player 122.

The process may begin at operation 405, where the UI 136 mayauthenticate a content consumer that is attempting to train the player122. In some embodiments, if previous facial and/or voice biometric datafor the content consumer has been received by the player 122, then atoperation 405, the UI 136 may request that the AC 250 identify thecontent consumer using image and/or video data from the camera 215 oraudio data from the microphone 225. In some embodiments, the contentconsumer may in addition or in lieu of these identification processes,be requested by the UI 136 to speak a password or pass phrase that iscurrently displayed on the display 124. Audio data from the contentconsumer speaking this password or pass phrase may then be compared bythe VM 220 to biometric data for the content consumer (and/or for knowncontent consumers that are authorized to train the player 122) todetermine the identity of the content consumer. In various embodiments,in lieu of, or in addition to, a password or pass phrase, the player 122may cause a series of random series of words and/or numbers that aredisplayed on the display 124. In various embodiments, by requesting thatthe content consumer speak a password, pass phrase, and/or random wordsand/or numbers, the player 122 may increase security by preventinganother content consumer from using a printed image of the contentconsumer to pretend to be the content consumer when training the player122. In various embodiments, operation 405 may not be performed, such aswhen first training the player 122 before any identities are known tothe AC 250.

Next, at operation 410, the player 122, and in particular the FM 210,may capture facial images from content consumers that may be permittedto access content and/or set access permissions for content. In variousembodiments, the player 122 may be configured to cause the camera 215 tocapture images and/or video and to extract facial images from thecaptured images. At operation 420, the player 122, and in particular theVM 220, may capture voice examples from content consumers that may bepermitted to access content and/or set access permissions for content.In various embodiments, the player 122 may be configured to cause themicrophone 225 to capture audio data while the content consumers speak.In various embodiments, the content consumers may be given particularspeaking prompts, and/or may be permitted to speak freely.

Next, at operation 430, the player 122, and in particular the FM 210,may capture facial images from content consumers that may not bepermitted to access content and/or set access permissions for content.For example, at operation 430, facial images of one or more children maybe captured. Similarly, at operation 440, the player 122, and inparticular the VM 220, may capture voice examples from content consumersthat may not be permitted to access content and/or set accesspermissions for content. In various embodiments, operations 430 and 440may be performed in order to more accurately identity those contentconsumers that may not be permitted to access content. However, in otherembodiments, operations 430 and/or 440 may not be performed, andbiometric data may only be obtained for permitted content consumers.Next, at operation 450, the player 122, and in particular the FM 210and/or the VM 220, may store biometric data from the captured facialimages and voice examples. In various embodiments, generation andstorage of the biometric data may be performed according to knowntechniques.

At operation 460, the UI 136 of the player 122 may receive accesspermissions relating to the content consumers (and/or other contentconsumers for whom data was previously received). In variousembodiments, access permissions received at operation 460 may includeindications of types of content that are permitted for different contentconsumers. In other embodiments, access permissions received atoperation 460 may include indications of types of content that arepermitted for different ages or age ranges of content consumers withoutreference to particular content consumers. Thus, an access permissionmay detail that R-rated films may not be viewed by content consumersunder 16. In another embodiment access permissions may includeindications of which content consumers are permitted to provide accesspermissions in the future. In such embodiments, during futureperformances of process 400, operation 405 may be performed toauthenticate a content consumer as previously having been givenpermission to change access permissions prior to allowing the contentconsumer to change access permissions. The process may then end.

Referring now to FIG. 5, an example process 500 for presenting contentbased on content consumer identities is illustrated in accordance withvarious embodiments. While FIG. 5 illustrates particular exampleoperations for process 500, in various embodiments, process 500 mayinclude additional operations, omit illustrated operations, and/orcombine illustrated operations. Process 500 may include implementationsof operation 330 of process 300 of FIG. 3. In various embodiments,aspects of process 500 may be performed by the UI 136 and/or the AC 250of the player 122.

The process may begin at operation 520, where the player 122 may receivea request to present a piece of content. Next, at operation 530, theplayer 122, and in particular the AC 250, may identify one or morecontent consumers that are physically proximate to the contentconsumption device 108. Particular implementations of operation 530 maybe described below with reference to process 600 of FIG. 6. Next, atoperation 540, the player 122, and in particular the AC 250, maydetermine if the piece of content may be presented to the identified oneor more content consumers. Particular implementations of operation 540may be described below with reference to process 700 of FIG. 7. Next, atdecision operation 545, the AC 250 may perform different actions basedon whether the content may be presented. Thus, if the piece of contentmay be presented to the identified content consumers, at operation 550,the piece of content may be presented. However, if the piece of contentmay not be presented to the identified content consumers, at operation560, the player 122 may deny presentation of the piece of content or maystop presentation of the piece of content if it is currently ongoing.

In either event, at operation 570, the player 122 may detect if there isa change in persons that are physically proximate to the contentconsumption device 108. If the persons that are physically proximate haschanged, such as if a child or other non-permitted content consumer hasentered a room with the content consumption device 108, then the processmay repeat at operation 530, where the changed persons in the room maybe identified and the process started over. Similarly, if anon-permitted content consumer has left the room, the process mayrepeat. Otherwise, presentation may continue or remain denied withoutchange.

Referring now to FIG. 6, an example process 600 for identifying contentconsumers identities is illustrated in accordance with variousembodiments. While FIG. 6 illustrates particular example operations forprocess 600, in various embodiments, process 600 may include additionaloperations, omit illustrated operations, and/or combine illustratedoperations. Process 600 may include implementations of operation 530 ofprocess 500 of FIG. 5. In various embodiments, aspects of process 600may be performed by the AC 250 of the player 122.

The process may begin at operation 610, where the FM 210 may cause thecamera 215 to capture image and/or video of one or more contentconsumers that are physically proximate to the content consumptiondevice 108. At operation 620, the VM 220 may cause the microphone 225 tocapture audio data from the one or more content consumers as well. Invarious embodiments, one or both of operations 610 and 620 may beperformed to capture data for identification of content consumers.

Next, at operation 630, the AC 250, in coordination with the FM 210 andthe VM 220, may determine unique identities of content consumers thatare physically proximate to the content consumption device 108. Invarious embodiments, the FM 210 and VM 220 may perform one or morefacial and/or voice recognition techniques to identify the one or morecontent consumers from whom images, video and/or audio data waspreviously captured. In various embodiments, these facial and/or voicerecognition techniques may be performed with reference to storedbiometric data, such as data stored in the biometric storage 230. Next,at operation 640, the AC 250, in coordination with the FM 210 and the VM220, may optionally determine ages (or age ranges) of content consumersthat were not previously identified. For example, as discussed above,the AC 250 may determine that a content consumer is likely to be below aparticular age threshold, and therefore may be too young to be permittedto access a piece of content. In other embodiments, rather thandetermine ages, the AC 250 may be configured to determine othercharacteristics of content consumers or that content consumers belong toa particular class or group, such as sex, or spoken languagecharacteristics. After operation 640, the process may then end.

Referring now to FIG. 7, an example process 700 for determining ifcontent may be presented is illustrated in accordance with variousembodiments. While FIG. 7 illustrates particular example operations forprocess 700, in various embodiments, process 700 may include additionaloperations, omit illustrated operations, and/or combine illustratedoperations. Process 700 may include implementations of operation 540 ofprocess 500 of FIG. 5. In various embodiments, aspects of process 700may be performed by the AC 250 of the player 122.

The process may begin at operation 710, where the AC 250 may determinecontent consumer information, such as one or more ages/permissions ofthe content consumers that are physically proximate to the contentconsumption device. In various embodiments, the AC 250 may retrieve thiscontent consumer information from the content consumer storage 270.

Next, at decision operation 715, the AC 250 may determine if all contentconsumers that are physically proximate are permitted to access thepiece of content. In various embodiments, the AC 250 may perform thisdetermination by comparing the content consumer information determinedat operation 710 with metadata associated with the piece of content. Ifall content consumers are allowed to access the piece of content, thenat operation 720, the AC 250 may allow access to the piece of contentand the process may then end.

If, however, all content consumers that are physically proximate are notallowed to access the piece of content, then at decision operation 735,the AC 250 may determine if any content consumers are physicallyproximate that are permitted to override denial of access. If not, thenno override is possible, and at operation 750, the AC 250 may denyaccess. If, however, there is at least one content consumer physicallyproximate to the content consumption device 108 that is permitted tooverride the denial of access, then at operation 740, the UI 136 may askfor override permission. For example, during denial of access, a promptmay be displayed letting content consumers may override the denial ofaccess. At decision operation 745, the AC 250 may determine if a contentconsumer that is permitted to override the denial has requested anoverride (such as by saying an override phrase). If so, then atoperation 720 access to the content is allowed. If not, then atoperation 750, access is denied. The process may then end.

Referring now to FIG. 8, an example computer suitable for practicingvarious aspects of the present disclosure, including processes of FIGS.3-7, is illustrated in accordance with various embodiments. As shown,computer 800 may include one or more processors or processor cores 802,and system memory 804. For the purpose of this application, includingthe claims, the terms “processor” and “processor cores” may beconsidered synonymous, unless the context clearly requires otherwise.Additionally, computer 800 may include mass storage devices 806 (such asdiskette, hard drive, compact disc read only memory (CD-ROM) and soforth), input/output devices 808 (such as display, keyboard, cursorcontrol, remote control, gaming controller, image capture device, and soforth) and communication interfaces 810 (such as network interfacecards, modems, infrared receivers, radio receivers (e.g., Bluetooth),and so forth). The elements may be coupled to each other via system bus812, which may represent one or more buses. In the case of multiplebuses, they may be bridged by one or more bus bridges (not shown).

Each of these elements may perform its conventional functions known inthe art. In particular, system memory 704 and mass storage devices 706may be employed to store a working copy and a permanent copy of theprogramming instructions implementing the operations associated withcontent consumption device 108, e.g., operations associated with cameracontrol such as shown in FIGS. 2, 4, and 6. The various elements may beimplemented by assembler instructions supported by processor(s) 602 orhigh-level languages, such as, for example, C, that can be compiled intosuch instructions.

The permanent copy of the programming instructions may be placed intopermanent storage devices 806 in the factory, or in the field, through,for example, a distribution medium (not shown), such as a compact disc(CD), or through communication interface 810 (from a distribution server(not shown)). That is, one or more distribution media having animplementation of the agent program may be employed to distribute theagent and program various computing devices.

The number, capability and/or capacity of these elements 810-812 mayvary, depending on whether computer 800 is used as a contentaggregator/distributor server 104 or a content consumption device 108(e.g., a player 122). Their constitutions are otherwise known, andaccordingly will not be further described.

FIG. 9 illustrates an example least one computer-readable storage medium902 having instructions configured to practice all or selected ones ofthe operations associated with content consumption device 108, e.g.,operations associated with control of access to content, earlierdescribed, in accordance with various embodiments. As illustrated, leastone computer-readable storage medium 902 may include a number ofprogramming instructions 904. Programming instructions 904 may beconfigured to enable a device, e.g., computer 800, in response toexecution of the programming instructions, to perform, e.g., variousoperations of processes of FIGS. 3-7, e.g., but not limited to, to thevarious operations performed to perform determination of framealignments. In alternate embodiments, programming instructions 904 maybe disposed on multiple least one computer-readable storage media 902instead.

Referring back to FIG. 8, for one embodiment, at least one of processors802 may be packaged together with computational logic 822 configured topractice aspects of processes of FIGS. 3-7. For one embodiment, at leastone of processors 802 may be packaged together with computational logic822 configured to practice aspects of processes of FIGS. 3-7 to form aSystem in Package (SiP). For one embodiment, at least one of processors802 may be integrated on the same die with computational logic 822configured to practice aspects of processes of FIGS. 3-7. For oneembodiment, at least one of processors 802 may be packaged together withcomputational logic 822 configured to practice aspects of processes ofFIGS. 3-7 to form a System on Chip (SoC). For at least one embodiment,the SoC may be utilized in, e.g., but not limited to, a computingtablet.

Various embodiments of the present disclosure have been described. Theseembodiments include, but are not limited to, those described in thefollowing paragraphs.

Example 1 includes one or more computer-readable storage media includinga plurality of instructions configured to cause a computing device, inresponse to execution of the instructions by the computing device, tofacilitate consumption of content. The instructions cause the computingdevice to: identify, in association with presentation of a piece ofcontent on the computing device, one or more content consumers that arephysically proximate to the computing device; determine one or moreaccess permissions for the identified one or more content consumers; andcontrol access to the content based on the determined one or more accesspermissions.

Example 2 includes the computer-readable storage media of example 1,wherein identify one or more content consumers includes perform facialrecognition on the one or more content consumers.

Example 3 includes the computer-readable storage media of example 1,wherein identify one or more content consumers includes perform voicerecognition of the one or more content consumers.

Example 4 includes the computer-readable storage media of example 1,wherein identify one or more content consumers includes identify aunique identity for a content consumer.

Example 5 includes the computer-readable storage media of example 1,wherein determine one or more access permissions includes determine oneor more age-based access permissions.

Example 6 includes the computer-readable storage media of example 1,wherein control access to the piece of content based on the determinedone or more access permissions includes deny access to the content.

Example 7 includes the computer-readable storage media of example 1,wherein determine one or more access permissions includes determineaccess permissions associated with metadata describing the piece ofcontent.

Example 8 includes the computer-readable storage media of example 7,wherein the metadata describing the piece of content describes one ormore age ranges that are permitted to consume the content.

Example 9 includes the computer-readable storage media of example 8,wherein identify one or more content consumers includes identify an ageor an age range for a content consumer.

Example 10 includes the computer-readable storage media of example 9,wherein identify an age range for a content consumer includes identifythat a content consumer is below or is likely to be below an agethreshold described by the metadata describing the content.

Example 11 includes the computer-readable storage media of example 10,wherein control presentation of the content includes deny access to thepiece of media content based on the identify that a content consumer isbelow or is likely to be below a predetermined age threshold describedby the metadata describing the content.

Example 12 includes the computer-readable storage media of any ofexamples 1-11, wherein the instructions are further configured to causethe computing device to: receive an override command after denial ofaccess to the piece of content; and allow access to the piece of contentbased on the received override command.

Example 13 includes the computer-readable storage media of example 12,wherein receive an override command includes receive an override commandfrom a content consumer identified to have permission to override denialof access to the content.

Example 14 includes the computer-readable storage media of any ofexamples 1-11, wherein the instructions are further configured to causethe computing device to receive the one or more access permissions froman authorized content consumer.

Example 15 includes the computer-readable storage media of example 14,wherein receive the one or more access permissions from an authorizedcontent consumer includes: authenticate a person physically proximate tothe computing device as the authorized content consumer; and receive theone or more access permissions from the authenticated person.

Example 16 includes the computer-readable storage media of example 15,wherein authenticate the person physically proximate to the computingdevice as the authorized content consumer includes: provide one or morewords and/or numbers to the person for the person to read aloud; captureaudio of the person reading the one or more words and/or numbers; andauthenticate the person by performing voice recognition on the capturedaudio.

Example 17 includes an apparatus for facilitating consumption ofcontent. The apparatus includes one or more computing processors and aplayer module configured to operate on the one or more computingprocessors to present a piece of content. The apparatus also includesone or more facial and/or voice recognition modules configured tooperate on the one or more computing processors to identify, inassociation with presentation of the piece of content, one or morecontent consumers that are physically proximate to the apparatus. Theapparatus also includes an access control module configured to operateon the one or more computing processors to: determine one or more accesspermissions for the identified one or more content consumers; andcontrol access to the content based on the determined one or more accesspermissions.

Example 18 includes the apparatus of example 17, wherein identify one ormore content consumers includes perform facial recognition on the one ormore content consumers.

Example 19 includes the apparatus of example 17, wherein identify one ormore content consumers includes perform voice recognition of the one ormore content consumers.

Example 20 includes the apparatus of example 17, wherein identify one ormore content consumers includes identify a unique identity for a contentconsumer.

Example 21 includes the apparatus of example 17, wherein determine oneor more access permissions includes determine one or more age-basedaccess permissions.

Example 22 includes the apparatus of example 17, wherein control accessto the piece of content based on the determined one or more accesspermissions includes deny access to the content.

Example 23 includes the apparatus of example 17, wherein determine oneor more access permissions includes determine access permissionsassociated with metadata describing the piece of content.

Example 24 includes the apparatus of example 23, wherein the metadatadescribing the piece of content describes one or more age ranges thatare permitted to consume the content.

Example 25 includes the apparatus of example 24, wherein identify one ormore content consumers includes identify an age or an age range for acontent consumer.

Example 26 includes the apparatus of example 25, wherein identify an agerange for a content consumer includes identify that a content consumeris below or is likely to be below an age threshold described by themetadata describing the content.

Example 27 includes the apparatus of example 26, wherein controlpresentation of the content includes deny access to the piece of mediacontent based on the identify that a content consumer is below or islikely to be below a predetermined age threshold described by themetadata describing the content.

Example 28 includes the apparatus of any of examples 17-27, wherein theaccess control module is further configured to operate on the one ormore computing processors to: receive an override command after denialof access to the piece of content; and allow access to the piece ofcontent based on the received override command.

Example 29 includes the apparatus of example 28, wherein receive anoverride command includes receive an override command from a contentconsumer identified to have permission to override denial of access tothe content.

Example 30 includes the apparatus of any of examples 17-27, wherein theaccess control module is further configured to operate on the one ormore computing processors to receive the one or more access permissionsfrom an authorized content consumer.

Example 31 includes the apparatus of example 30, wherein receive the oneor more access permissions from an authorized content consumer includes:authenticate a person physically proximate to the apparatus as theauthorized content consumer; and receive the one or more accesspermissions from the authenticated person.

Example 32 includes the apparatus of example 31, wherein authenticatethe person physically proximate to the apparatus as the authorizedcontent consumer includes: provide one or more words and/or numbers tothe person for the person to read aloud; capture audio of the personreading the one or more words and/or numbers; and authenticate theperson by performing voice recognition on the captured audio.

Example 33 includes a computer-implemented method for facilitatingconsumption of content. The method includes: presenting, by a computingdevice, a piece of content; identifying, by the computing device, and inassociation with presentation of the piece of content, one or morecontent consumers that are physically proximate to the apparatus;determining, by the computing device, one or more access permissions forthe identified one or more content consumers; and controlling, by thecomputing device, access to the content based on the determined one ormore access permissions.

Example 34 includes the method of example 33, wherein identifying one ormore content consumers includes performing facial recognition on the oneor more content consumers.

Example 35 includes the method of example 33, wherein identifying one ormore content consumers includes performing voice recognition of the oneor more content consumers.

Example 36 includes the method of example 33, wherein identifying one ormore content consumers includes identifying a unique identity for acontent consumer.

Example 37 includes the method of example 33, wherein determining one ormore access permissions includes determining one or more age-basedaccess permissions.

Example 38 includes the method of example 33, wherein controlling accessto the piece of content based on the determined one or more accesspermissions includes denying access to the content.

Example 39 includes the method of example 33, wherein determining one ormore access permissions includes determining access permissionsassociated with metadata describing the piece of content.

Example 40 includes the method of example 39, wherein the metadatadescribing the piece of content describes one or more age ranges thatare permitted to consume the content.

Example 41 includes the method of example 40, wherein identifying one ormore content consumers includes identifying an age or an age range for acontent consumer.

Example 42 includes the method of example 41, wherein identifying an agerange for a content consumer includes identifying that a contentconsumer is below or is likely to be below an age threshold described bythe metadata describing the content.

Example 43 includes the method of example 42, wherein controllingpresentation of the content includes denying access to the piece ofmedia content based on the identifying that a content consumer is belowor is likely to be below a predetermined age threshold described by themetadata describing the content.

Example 44 includes the method of any of examples 33-43, furtherincluding: receiving, by the computing device, an override command afterdenial of access to the piece of content; and allowing, by the computingdevice, access to the piece of content based on the received overridecommand.

Example 45 includes the method of example 44, wherein receiving anoverride command includes receiving an override command from a contentconsumer identified to have permission to override denial of access tothe content.

Example 46 includes the method of any of examples 33-43, furtherincluding receiving the one or more access permissions from anauthorized content consumer.

Example 47 includes the method of example 46, wherein receiving the oneor more access permissions from an authorized content consumer includes:authenticating a person physically proximate to the apparatus as theauthorized content consumer; and receiving the one or more accesspermissions from the authenticated person.

Example 48 includes the method of example 47, wherein authenticating theperson physically proximate to the apparatus as the authorized contentconsumer includes: providing one or more words and/or numbers to theperson for the person to read aloud; capturing audio of the personreading the one or more words and/or numbers; and authenticating theperson by performing voice recognition on the captured audio.

Computer-readable media (including least one computer-readable media),methods, apparatuses, systems and devices for performing theabove-described techniques are illustrative examples of embodimentsdisclosed herein. Additionally, other devices in the above-describedinteractions may be configured to perform various disclosed techniques.

Although certain embodiments have been illustrated and described hereinfor purposes of description, a wide variety of alternate and/orequivalent embodiments or implementations calculated to achieve the samepurposes may be substituted for the embodiments shown and describedwithout departing from the scope of the present disclosure. Thisapplication is intended to cover any adaptations or variations of theembodiments discussed herein. Therefore, it is manifestly intended thatembodiments described herein be limited only by the claims.

Where the disclosure recites “a” or “a first” element or the equivalentthereof, such disclosure includes one or more such elements, neitherrequiring nor excluding two or more such elements. Further, ordinalindicators (e.g., first, second or third) for identified elements areused to distinguish between the elements, and do not indicate or imply arequired or limited number of such elements, nor do they indicate aparticular position or order of such elements unless otherwisespecifically stated.

What is claimed is:
 1. One or more computer-readable storage mediacomprising a plurality of instructions configured to cause a computingdevice, in response to execution of the instructions by the computingdevice, to: identify, in association with presentation of a piece ofcontent on the computing device, one or more content consumers that arephysically proximate to the computing device; determine one or moreaccess permissions for the identified one or more content consumers; andcontrol access to the content based on the determined one or more accesspermissions. 2-25. (canceled)